Take On Friendzone
by TheFbrz
Summary: After Riley hears Danny's voicemail and confronts him about it, she contemplates her feelings for him. Just as she's getting used to the situation, things start to change. (I'm really quite bad at summaries. Please read and review!)
1. 1 Riley

It starts sometime around midnight.

It's a Friday night. After a full day of watching Emma, and Danny's game, I'm exhausted. I shower, brush my teeth and fall into bed alone in my apartment. Despite the fact that I am so tired, I can't fall asleep. I can't stop thinking about those Wheeler boys.

Ben, who works at the bar down the street, has been my moon and starts for as long as I can remember. Since the first day I saw him playing with his puppy on the front lawn on the day we moved in, I thought he was the one. We lost contact after high school, but when Danny called me the day Emma was dropped on their doorstep, I was overjoyed. Despite having to come back to that damn nickname, it was nice to see Ben again. It was like we hadn't missed a day. Every day I get to see him, to watch his daughter while he's at work, to sit at the bar and talk to him while I eat lunch, is a great day for me.

Then there's Danny. From the first time I climbed up the rope ladder to his treehouse when we were seven, we've been best friends. Through grade school and high school, field hockey and driveway basketball, braces and first dates, and even through college, we stayed pretty close. We Skyped once a week and most days, we would text and email back and forth several times. Danny has always been a constant force in my life-always there, always reliable.

Only recently did everything change. Danny's pocketdial message had opened my eyes to his interest in me. The signs have always been there, but I never really noticed them until I was looking for them. When I confronted him about it, however, he shrugged it off with a grin before his scantily-clad girlfriend sauntered into the room, beckoning him back to bed. When I left the apartment, I stood in the hallway for a long time after deleting the message, crying silently against the doorframe. If he wanted me for so long, then why didn't he tell me? Why did I have to find it out from an accidental voicemail? After standing outside of the boys' apartment door for an agonizingly long time, I wiped my eyes and walked home.

That was almost two months ago.

Now, tonight, I lay awake in bed, thinking about Ben and Danny. Once block over, I know Ben is probably fast asleep, stretched out on the couch with Emma passed out laying on his chest; Tucker is most likely on the phone with his latest girl fixation-Kara? Kelley? Kimmy?-and Danny has probably just gotten in from some amazing victory party, having beaten the Penguins in a shutout. Right now, he's walking into the apartment, taking Emma gently from Ben's chest and carrying her to her crib before turning in for the night himself.

I sigh and roll over in bed. On my nightstand, my phone buzzes. I pick it up and answer the call without looking at the name.

"Hello?" I yawn, but someone is already talking.

"-know if you don't talk to her?" It's Mrs Wheeler's voice.

"I have! I straight up told her, and she laughed in my face. She thought I was covering for Ben. And then I kissed her and she pushed me away...it was humiliating." It's Danny.

"Well, you need to try again."

"I don't wanna screw up our friendship..." He trails off.

"Do you love Riley or not?" Mrs Wheeler's words are surprisingly biting.

"Of course I do." I can practically see the look on his face as he says, "but she'll never see me that way."

"Oh," I say softly, without even realizing.

"What was that?" Mrs Wheeler asks.

I scramble to press end before they know I've been eavesdropping on them. For a few moments, I lay in the silence and darkness, the echoes of their conversation reverberating through my mind. That's when every memory of Danny comes rushing back. Starting from the day I first saw him practicing slapshots on his driveway, my mind replayed them all. I was up to the field hockey state championship game junior year-getting the pass from Danny, smacking the ball forward for the winning goal-when the cheering crowd began to sound more like a buzzing phone. I roll over and reluctantly press the phone to my ear.

"Riley? Could you come open your door?"

Without letting the voice register, I end the call and slide out of bed. I scuffle to the door and pull it open. When I see who is standing there, I blink in disbelief.

"Can I crash here? It's crazy at home." Danny asks sweetly, a sort of desperately hopeful look on his face.

Unable to speak, I just nod and step aside to let him in. Before I even know what's happening, he has slipped his shoes off and laid down on my couch, asleep before his head hit the pillow. It's been a long day for him. He shouldn't have to come home after such a great victory and deal with the boys and his mom giving him trouble, especially after all he's been through today. I smile as I pull the blanket from the back of the couch. As I unfold it, I thank college-me for buying one long enough for him. He's here now, safe and sound. I'm not going to trouble him further. I gently tuck the blanket under his feet and pull it up to his chest. Absently, he grabs the edge of the blanket and mumbles, "I love you," in his sleep, before rolling over like the six-foot-five baby that he is.

"I love you, too," I whisper before heading back to bed.

* * *

**Hello, friends. Thanks for reading all that.**

**This was originally going to be a one-shot, but I'm going to add a couple of chapters.**

**Review, me please! I'm still pretty new to writing fanfics!**


	2. 2 Danny

I wake up in a strange place.

After blinking a few times, I realize I'm in Riley's apartment.

"Gooood morning, Riley!" I greet her.

"Um, hi," she starts. "You're making breakfast."

I glance over at her with a grin. "Yeah! I mean, I'm trying. I hope they turn out alright."

She laughs her adorable little laugh. "I'm sure they'll be fine. So...what made you come here last night?"

_Do I tell you the truth or do I make something up?_ "Well, I got home from the after party-which was pretty awesome, by the way. You should've gone-at midnight. And Ben was up with Emma, trying to get her back down. Tucker was asleep on the couch, for some reason. So I grabbed a bowl of cereal and was about to go to bed when my mom comes in and starts bugging me. When she left, I went to bed, but I couldn't sleep, so I went for a walk to clear my head. Next thing I know, I was standing at your door. Sorry for barging in and waking you up." _Okay, so it's not completely true. It doesn't really matter, anyway._

She shakes her head, "No, really, it's fine. I had trouble getting to sleep, too."

I turn from the stove and set the pancakes on the island. "Is everything okay?"

With a fork, she pulls one onto her plate and pours syrup all over it. Taking a bite, she shrugs, "I don't really know."

I shove a huge bite in my mouth. "Are you sure?"

"Well...I just have a lot on my mind." She glances up into my eyes.

"Riley, you know you can tell me anything," I remind her.

She stutters, looking for the words. "I...I don't..." I trail off.

I stare at her, concerned. "If you're having a problem, you can tell me. You know you can trust me."

She nods nervously and continue eating. "I know. I'll tell you later. It's just..." I try to quickly come up with an excuse. "Fitch."

"Fitch? I thought you broke up."

"It's complicated. Y'know, we broke up, but we might be getting back together. He called me the other day and said he was thinking about me, and I just think that we might be getting back together, but I'm not really sure it's a good idea, and..."

"Riles," I interrupts, keeping her from rambling on as she tends to do when she's nervous or stressed. "Do whatever you feel is right."

She pauses, then, "Thanks, Danny. Um, how are things with you?"

I sigh and take another bite. "Things are okay. The game last night was great, but, you were there, of course. Amy is okay. I mean, I like her a lot, but I don't know that it's gonna work out."

Riley says, "Oh! Why not? You seem so happy together!" but the sincerity doesn't reach her eyes.

"Things just don't feel right with her. Being with her doesn't feel as...easy as it should. Like you. Being with you is easy." Realizing how that might offend her, I continue, "I mean, our friendship is easy. Being around you feels natural. Easy. Uncomplicated."

She nods in understanding. I think to myself, _I'm so glad you know what I mean. I wish I could just tell you everything, but you wouldn't see me the same way ever again._

We finish breakfast and I banishes her from the kitchen, doing the dishes as a thank you for letting me stay the night and for waking her up so late. When I finish the dishes and cleaning the kitchen, I look around for a reason to stay, but am unable to find one. I fold up my blanket, scrawl her a note, and head out quietly.

_Riley,_  
_Thanks for letting me stay here last night!_  
_I did the dishes and cleaned everything up._  
_See you later, yeah?_  
_Danny_

It's not like I'm not going to see her later. I'll see her at the bar for lunch before practice, and tonight at the game. Just like almost every day. I keep telling myself this as I walk back to my apartment.

I can't believe I almost told her the truth at breakfast. I should've known something like that would happen. I don't even know why I went to her apartment in the first place. On the way home from the party, Amy called, annoyed with me over...something...I tuned her out after about thirty seconds. When I finally got back to the apartment, I changed into some plaid flannel pants and a plain white tshirt. I was sitting at the counter having a bowl of cereal when Mom burst in.

"Danny, what the hell is wrong with you?" She yelled, launching into a rant. Suddenly, I knew exactly what Amy had been chewing me out for.

_I saunter into the locker room at the end of the second period, stoked after scoring the second goal of the game. Riley and Amy are both standing there next to Mom, who has Emma. The conversation is relatively short and sweet-them telling me how good I was out there, wishing me luck in the third period, the usual-but as they are seeing me back onto the ice, I kiss Amy, hug my mom, and kiss Emma, then go to hug Riley. I hug her, then she kisses my cheek. To me, it's a normal platonic thing for her. To Amy, it's a threat._

_The rest of the game is fine, as far as I'm concerned. I score again, and we win 4-0, making this one of my best games in a while. In the stands, however, Amy is glaring at Riley; Ben is playing with Emma while he watches the action on the ice; Tucker is ignoring the drama and trying to pick up some girl sitting in front of him; Mom is eating popcorn like a fiend, waiting for Amy to attack Riley; Riley is sitting there trying to ignore Amy's death glare._

_Down on the ice, I'm celebrating with my teammates. Up by my family, my girlfriend is resisting the urge to rip my best friend's face off._

"What is going on between you and Riley and Amy?" She pressed.

"Nothing! Mom! I swear!" I tossed my empty cereal bowl into the sink.

"Because I swear to you, Danny Wheeler, if you don't get this under control, I will."

"It's under control," I said, trying to sound as calm as possible.

"Is it? Because it seems to me that Riley finally has feelings for you, and Amy isn't thrilled about it because she knows how you feel about her."

"Riley doesn't have feelings for me. At least, I don't think she does." I briefly considered the possibility before pushing the thought from my mind.

"How will you know if you don't talk to her?"

"I have! I straight up told her, and she laughed in my face. She thought I was covering for Ben. And then I kissed her and she pushed me away...it was humiliating," I told her.

She wasn't having it. "Well, you need to try again."

"I don't wanna screw up our friendship..." I confessed.

"Do you love Riley or not?"

"Of course I do, but she'll never see me that way."

"What was that?" Mom asked.

"What are you even talking about?" I wondered aloud.

"I thought I heard...Nevermind. This conversation isn't over." She jabbed a finger in the air toward me and glared as she stalked out of the apartment.

I sighed and slouched off to my room. Laying in bed, my mind was everywhere but ready to go to sleep. After trying under the blankets, without blankets, fan on, fan off, door open, door closed. I made myself a cup of tea, and THAT didn't work. When my alarm clock beeped 1:45, I decided to go for a walk to tire myself out. I slipped on a pair of loafers and my winter coat and ventured out into the snow.

At almost two o'clock in the morning, the streets were almost completely deserted, especially in this bitter cold. I wandered down the street, past the bar and the café and the market, across the street to the next block. I didn't even realize where I was going until I was punching in the access code to Riley's building. When I called her, and by some miracle, she answered, I asked her to come let me in. She did, and I curled up on her couch. She covered me with the fuzzy blanket from the back of her couch. I rolled over and whispered the words. When she whispered them back, my greatest hope and fear were both confirmed.

I fell asleep confused and anxious and woke up feeling the same.

* * *

**Hola amigos! Thanks for reading!**

**A slight note: please don't try to understand the timeline of this in relation to the Voicemail episode. I felt like that episode was in September, but then the Halfoween episode supposedly took place at the end of April, which would put this in June or July, therefore there wouldn't be hockey. However I wanted there to be hockey, and I do what I want, so I made this November.**

**Review, please! And tell me if the timeline conundrum bothers you, because if it bothers anybody too much, I might fix it somehow.**

**If you're reading this, I totally appreciate you. Thanks!**


	3. 3 Riley

I'm disappointed when I come back out to the kitchen and Danny is gone.

I can't say that I'm surprised-he had really no reason to stay-but I wish he would've. I just love his company. His note didn't make me feel much better, either. He might as well have written FRIENDZONE on a sticky note and stapled it to my forehead. I finish getting ready and head out.

It's another freezing cold morning. Snow dusts the sidewalks. There are very few people out, not that I blame them. It's just too cold. As I cross the street to the boys' block, my phone begins to vibrate in my pocket, signaling a call. It could be one of two people—Fitch, just wanting to talk, or Ben, reminding me that I'm late coming to get Emma. I wrap my coat tighter around me and walk faster, ignoring the call.

I reach the front steps and almost fall slipping on ice, but luckily, I catch myself on the rail. As quickly as I can with my frozen fingers, I enter the access code and push the door open. I jab the elevator button and stumble into it when the doors open. When I get to the boys' floor and the doors open, Ben is standing in front of them.

"Riley! Thank God! I was getting worried. I'm late for work," he explains as he fixes his tie.

"I said I'd be here," I snapped. Then, realizing, I apologize. "I didn't get enough sleep last night." It's not a complete lie.

He nods in understanding-with Emma around, he has a few of those nights—and waves as the doors close. I spin on my heel and open the apartment door. Tucker is trying to feed Emma applesauce, but she's not feeling it.

"Hey, Riley. A little help here?" He begs.

"Yeah, sure." I take over for him. She takes it from me without any fuss.

"I do not understand this girl. She takes food from everyone else but me," he observes.

I'm about to reply when a muffled voice comes, "That's because she has good taste." It's Danny. The bathroom door opens, and he strolls out of the bathroom in jeans and a blue v-neck, rubbing a towel against his hair. I try really hard not to stare at him, but it's nearly impossible. He's too gorgeous.

Tucker looks at me funny. "Earth to Riley. Come in Riley."

I shake away the thoughts. "Yeah, what?" Then I look down to see that Emma has spit applesauce all over my top. "Shoot."

Tucker laughs, "Well, on that note, I'm gonna go." He spins on his heel and walks out of the apartment.

Danny smiles for a moment at me, then says, "Come on, I'll find you a clean shirt."

I follow him back to his room. As he's rummaging through one of his dresser drawers, it dawns on me that I've haven't been in his room since we were kids. It looks pretty much the same as it did when he lived with his parents. His bed is…sort of made. It looks like he just pulled the blankets up so his mom wouldn't come in and bother him about it. Despite the fact that they're fully grown and don't live with her anymore, she still bothers the boys (and sometimes even Tucker) about the state of the apartment. On top of his dresser sits the usual assortment—a stick of deodorant, a half-used roll of prewrap, his wallet, his keys, a lone shoelace, a couple of CDs. His phone charger dangled from the corner of his nightstand, caught under a hardcover novel bookmarked a third of the way through and a composition notebook with a pen clipped to the cover.

There are a few socks balled up next to the hamper. In the corner, as far away from everything as possible, lays his hockey gear and bag. His skates lean against the wall. The only reason the whole room doesn't smell completely awful from his gear is the loads and loads of Odo-ban, Febreze, and Sneaker Balls he used to balance it out.

After what feels like forever, Danny fishes a long-sleeved Rangers T-shirt out of the drawer. "Found one! It shrunk in the wash, so you can keep it."

"Thanks, Wheeler." I turn to the opposite wall and pull my applesauce-stained top over my head before quickly pulling the Rangers shirt on. It's still pretty big, and the sleeves are too long, so I push them up to my elbows. I shrug. It'll do for now. I turn back to Danny, who is completely unfazed. This isn't the first time I've changed clothes in front of him. We were kids together, so we've pretty much seen it all.

"Is that okay?" He asks.

"Yeah, it's fine," I nod with a smile.

He grins wide. "Well, we better finish feeding her."

"Of course!" I cheer, "Onward!"

Together we go back out to the kitchen, and Emma doesn't fuss at us at all as she eats the rest of the applesauce.

* * *

**Bonjour, people! (Sorry I don't speak French and I'm too honest/lazy to use a translator)**

**Hope you're enjoying it thus far. I'm honestly trying! This one was surprisingly difficult to write, hence it's a little shorter than usual.**

**Seriously, review, please. I'll love you forever. Right now I feel like that one person that nobody likes who everybody just stares at until they're done talking and then doesn't say anything because they don't have the heart to tell them to shut up. So yeah. Review, please.**

**Thanks. I love you all.**


	4. 4 Danny

When I see Riley in my apartment, I freeze.

I hide in the bathroom for at least five minutes trying to give myself a pep talk in the mirror while I got dressed, but when an opportunity to jump into the conversation presents itself, I jump on it. They don't even notice how nervous I am as I walk out of the bathroom drying my hair. As Riley glances at me, Emma spews applesauce across Riley's purple shirt. For a moment, she doesn't even notice, but Tucker points it out.

"Shoot," she mutters under her breath, looking around for something to wipe it off with.

"Come on, I'll find you a clean shirt," I offer with a grin.

She laughs and follows me as I go to find her a T-shirt. It takes me a few moments to find the Rangers shirt that shrank in the wash last week. When I finally do find it after what feels like hours, I turn to see Riley taking in my room. I realize how messy it must look to her—hockey gear everywhere, dirty socks all over the floor, every surface covered with stuff.

When I give her the shirt, she turns her back to me and changes right there in front of me. It's a bit surprising, but I quickly regain composure and stop staring. She looks way better than I ever dreamt she would. She's so beautiful. I can't even handle it.

We go back out and finish feeding Emma with all of our limbs intact and our clothes applesauce-free. By the time we do finish, it's time to head down to the bar for lunch with Mrs. Wheeler and Ben, so we pack up and head down. I have the diaper bag slung over my right shoulder, and Riley is pushing the stroller. When we step outside, we're immediately hit by a wall of freezing. Turning to each other, we silently agree to make a run for the bar, seeing as it's just downstairs.

Both of us slip and slide all over the icy sidewalk. Riley uses the stroller to keep her balance, and, panicking, I grab onto her to try to stay vertical. We both go down hard. The stroller starts to tip, but I push it back down onto the ground. Emma giggles and somehow manages to clap through all of her layers. For a moment, Riley and I both stare at each other in shock. I fell almost completely on top of her. I could've killed her.

"I am SO sorry," I start.

"Danny," she gasps, interrupting me. "Can't breathe."

I scramble to get off of her and struggle to stand up, and then pull her up off the ground.

"Thanks, Wheeler," she manages once she catches her breath.

"Uh, yeah. Sorry," I repeat. We slowly walk the rest of the way down to the bar. Inside is like heaven, the warm air like a blanket. Every bone in my body is still frozen to the core, but at least I can move my fingers. I take a seat on one of the barstools. Riley takes Emma out of the stroller and sets her up on the bar.

"There's my best girl!" Ben smiles. "Oh, and look, Emma's here, too!"

I glance over at Riley and Emma. Emma is completely happy, smiling and giggling at her dad. Riley, however, looks less than thrilled.

"Ben," she says warningly.

He puts his hands up in surrender and takes Emma's bottle to refill it. "So what are the plans for today?"

Riley looks to me as I look to her, and then turns back to Ben. "That is an excellent question. What ARE we doing today, Danny?"

"Wellllll," I start, turning to her. "I have to be at the arena at three, so we have a couple of hours. What were you planning on doing?"

"I really need some new clothes, but that can wait a couple of days. Other than that, it doesn't really matter to me."

To be honest, shopping never really sounds appealing to me, but it's Riley, so I jump at the chance. "We can go to the mall. I don't really have any better idea. At least it's not outside."

Riley looks at me, wide eyed. "Really? Cuz that's really okay." Then, realizing that we really don't mind: "Awesome, Danny. Thanks."

Ben laughs, "I don't envy you, bro." I could've killed him for the look he was giving me.

I glare at him from behind my menu as Riley orders lunch. He brings us our food pretty quickly, as usual, then moves on to the next customers.

"So what exactly are you looking for today?" I say before taking a bite of my burger.

"Oh, just some random things. I need a couple of new sweaters. Some of mine are getting worn out. I need a dress for this thing next weekend. What is it? That formal friends-and-family thing you invited us to?"

She leaves me to fill in the blank. "The Rangers' Make-a-Wish benefit. It raises money for kids with cancer. It's kind of a big deal for the players to go and they want the families and friends to be supportive."

"Yeah, I need a dress for that. Aaaaaand…I dunno. A couple of other things."

"Is that all?" I laugh.

"Bras," she says quietly.

I almost choke on a fry as I try to make sure I heard her right. "Did you say you need bras?"

"Um," she awkwardly avoids my gaze. "Yeah, but you can hit the food court or the music store while I go do that."

I nod slowly, staring down at my food. This was going to be an interesting trip.

* * *

**Top o' the morning to ya! (It's 1AM here)**

**To all of you that read & reviewed, I LOVE YOU FOREVER!**

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**I hit ten followers yesterday! Double digits, baby! I was really excited.**

**I'm trying to update often, but it's been rough with the holiday and my mom being crazy and hectic and I'm also trying to update my other fic regularly and my friend and I are trying to collaborate on another one. I just have a lot going on. I'll try to update more often. I love you all.**


	5. 5 Riley

I'm really surprised that Danny agrees to go shopping with me.

I'm even more surprised that he doesn't back out when I say exactly what I need. I don't actually know what I was going for with that particular conversation, but I do know that when I go to the mall later, I'll have someone to carry my bags.

The rest of lunch passes by pretty uneventfully except for Emma's baby babbling. Danny drives us to the mall. We walk through the doors and that's when I realize I have no idea where we should go first, so I walk into a random store without looking at the window, and Danny follows closely with Emma in her stroller. Unfortunately, the store that I walk into is Victoria's Secret. I had been meaning to come here, but not with Danny, much less first thing.

Instead of doubling back and picking a different store, however, I cut between two racks where I know Danny can't follow with the stroller and pick a few bras off the rack.

"Riley, I'm just gonna wait outside," Danny calls to me awkwardly once he realizes what's happening.

I silently thank him and head for the fitting room. Ten minutes later, I come out of the store with three new bras in my little pink bag. Danny is sitting on a bench holding Emma. A tall, gorgeous brunette is handing him what I assume is her phone number. That's just like him, picking up girls everywhere he goes, with or without his wingbaby.

"Danny? You ready?" I ask him, hoping we can move on to something else.

"Yup!" He gently sets Emma back in her stroller. She giggles.

We head off to JC Penney, where I wander around looking for dresses. Danny tries to help, every so often holding up a dress that he thinks I might like. A couple of them are actually pretty cute, so I tell him to pick up a size eight. I have about twelve dresses by the time I go in to try them on.

The first one is blue and lacy. I liked it on the hanger, but when I go out to the three-way mirror to look at it, I can't decide. Danny is sitting on a bench at the end of the hallway, bouncing Emma on his knee. "Enh," he shrugs. "It's okay, but I don't love it."

I keep turning and looking at my reflection. "That's what I'm thinking."

"Great, try the next one!"

He actually seems to not mind watching me try on dresses. The next one is purple. I like it a lot. When I go out to the mirror, Danny is smiling and nodding, "I like that one. It's a good color, and it looks really pretty on you." I smile to myself as I go back into the fitting room. It's good that he's here. This is going much faster than it usually does. For a moment, I feel like I'm back and high school, looking for a homecoming dress with my mom. The only differences are that it's Danny sitting out there and the dresses are ten sizes smaller.

The rest of trying on dresses goes pretty quickly. We agree on a short, one-shoulder number. It's the most beautiful blue color I've ever seen. Danny was actually speechless when he saw it. I knew at that moment that that dress was the one. I tried on the rest of them just for fun, but the blue one was the winner, hands down.

After we buy the dress, we wander around the mall for a while. I buy a pair of gorgeous white wedges while Danny is trying on every kind of loafer they have in his size. He doesn't even end up buying anything. When he leaves, I go back and buy the pair of Sperrys that he had been eyeing the whole time we were there. Perfect, his Christmas present is already done, two months early.

At two o'clock, we leave the mall. Danny has to be at the arena in an hour, I need to be home so I can get ready to go to the game, and Ben, of course, needs his baby back. When Danny drops me off in front of my apartment, he has a big dopey grin on his face. "Bye, Riles! See you at the game!"

I laugh and reply, "Knock 'em dead, Wheeler!"

When I walk into my apartment, a sense of loneliness immediately falls over me. I'm all alone. Why can't I just spend all my time with Danny? We make a great team, after all. What am I thinking? That would effectively be marriage, and…Danny and I? No. Being married would not be good for us. Besides, he has Amy and I have…Fitch…sort of…things have been weird and complicated between us lately. I just doubt that it will last.

I push all thoughts of relationships from my mind and go to study for my test on Tuesday. It's a really good thing that my internship doesn't really interfere with my classes. That would be a nightmare. As I'm lying on my couch trying to focus on intellectual property law, I find my thoughts wandering again.

Before I know it, my head is back at the mall with Danny and Emma, acting like we're a family. We're walking along a row of stores when we see a fantastic wedding dress in the window. We both stop to stare at it.

"That would look amazing on you," he tells me quietly.

"Ha, who would I be marrying? Fitch and I are barely speaking and there's nobody else," I laugh.

He falls silent for a long moment before whispering, "Maybe you could be marrying me?"

I turn to see him down on one knee with the most beautiful engagement ring I've ever seen. What is happening right now? What do I say? What about Fitch? What about Amy? All of the logic and reason suddenly goes straight out of my mind and I say, "Yes."

Just like that I wake up, and I'm sitting alone in my apartment with my copy of _Law, Ethics & the Visual Arts_.

* * *

**Hey, friends.**

**This was hard to write.**

**I hope you're enjoying it.**

**Let me know. (Please review!)**


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